Latching mechanism



Nov. 12, 1963 R. E. LECKNER 3,110,438

LATCHING MECHANISM Filed May 1, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 zi I TQW y/ 5+ 25 l EUgz 2 25 1:

IN V EN TOR.

Fl G 4 RUSSELL E. LEGKNER ATTORNEYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 QwE NM R. E. LECKNER LATCHING MECHANISM Nov. 12, 1963 Filed May 1, 1961 INVENTOR.

RUSSELL E.LEGKNEIR BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,1 10,438 Patented Nov. 12, 1963 3,110,438 LATCHING WCHANESM Russell E. Leckner, 31 Shorecrest Circle, Grosse Pointe Shores 36, Min Filed May 1, 1961, Ser- No. 106,794 8 Claims. (Cl. 23243.4)

My invent-ion relates to latching mechanisms and more particularly to a latching means for receptacles such as milk chutes and the like having a pair of access doors, one opening into the building and the other opening to the outside.

Milk chutes and delivery receptacles in buildings are sources of trouble since they provide means of illegal entry and yet must remain open to the outside for delivery. Moreover, once a delivery is made, unless it is immediately taken in, it is too readily stolen. Conventionally, the inner door is provided with a latch or lock, leaving the outer door unlocked. However, often the inner lock is unused, and when used, it is readily broken.

An object of my invention is to contribute to safety of buildings by providing a means of insuring that one door of a multiple access package receptacle or the like will be latched when the other is unlatched.

Another object of the invention is to improve multiple access package receptacles by providing an improved selectively actuated latching device operable to lock either door.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred package receptacle or milk chute embodying the invention.

FIG. 2A is an elevational view of the latching mechanism of FIG. 1 shown in one position.

FIG. 2B is an elevational view of the mechanism shown in another position.

FIG. 2C is an elevational view of the mechanism shown in yet another position.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the right side of the mechanism as shown in FiG. 2A.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of another modification of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional vie-w taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2C.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 66 of FIG. 2C.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a package or delivery receptacle 18 or the like is preferably constructed with top and bottom walls 11 and 12, a panel 13 on one side and a pair of spaced panels 14 and 15 on the other side, an outer door 16 and an inner door 17.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate difierent positions of, the mechanism carried between the panels 14 and 15, FIG. 3 illustrates an end view and FIGS. 5 and 6 are crosssections of the mechanism which comprises an inner latch element 20 and an outer latch element 21 respectively adapted for engagement in slots in keeper elements 22 and 23 mounted on the inner and outer doors 17 and 16 as shown.

The latch elements 25 and 21 are pivotally carried by pins 25 on a cam member 26 and fulcrummed in brackets 27. The cam member 26 is pivotally carried on a pin 28A secured to the panel 15 so that, depending on which position the cam member 26 is in, the inner door 17 may be latched while the outer door 16 is unlatched (FIG. 2A), the outer door 16 may be latched while the inner door 17 is unlatched (FIG. 2B), or both doors 16 and 17 may be unlatched (FIG. 20).

A cam lever 33, pivoted on a pin 30A, is resiliently urged by a spring 31 into engagement with the lower pointed end of the cam member 26 to force same to one side or the other as will be explained, thereby assuring in normal operation that either one door or the other is latched.

The earn member 26 is provided with an actuating arm 26A having a slot 26B. A selectively actuated hand lever 27A is pivotally mounted by a pin 283 on the panel 15 and has a transversely extending flange 27B which can be selectively engaged on one side or the other of the arm 26A (FIGS. 2A and 2B) or in the slot 263 (FIG. 2C), thereby positively locking the cam member 26 in any one of the three positions.

A bumper bar 230 is pivotally carried on the arm 26A by a pin 31 and rides horizontally on a pair of pins 32 mounted on the panels 14 and 15. An inner bumper 33 and an outer bumper 34 are pivotally carried by pins 3-5 on the outer ends of the bumper bar 230 as shown and are prevented from dropping beyond the horizontal by means of pins 36 carried on the bumpers 33 and 34.

In operation, when the inner door '17 is closed, a flange 37 carried thereby strikes the bumper 33, shifting the bumper bar toward the outer door 16 and pivoting the cam member 26 clockwise. This causes the inner latch 29 to engage the keeper 22 and the outer latch 21 to disengage from the keeper 23, since the thrust on the cam member as will move it slightly over-center to permit the lever 34 to continue the pivotal movement by urging upward on the right lower edge of the member 26.

Conversely, when the outer door :16 is closed, a flange 38 carried thereby strikes the bumper 34, shifting the bumper bar toward the inner door 17 and pivoting the cam member 26 counterclockwise. This causes the outer latch 21 to engage the keeper 23 and the inner latch 20 to disengage from the keeper 22.

An inner trip element 46 and an outer trip element 41, pivotally mounted on the panel 1-4 by pins 42, are provided above the bumpers 33 and 34 and are prevented from falling 'by stop pins 43. The trip elements 40 and 41 have depending arms 49A and 41A respectively.

In operation, when the inner door is closed, the flange 37 striking the bumper '33, the inner end of the bumper 33 strikes the arm 49A, pivoting the trip element 40 up, and the arm will then fall into a slot 33A provided in the upper edge of the bumper 33 to take the position shown in FIG. 2A. At the same time, the outer trip element arm 11A, 'which was in a similar slot 34A in the outer bumper 34, cams the outer bumper 34 up over the outer door flange 33 as shown in FIG. 2A, so that the outer bumper 34 will not push the outer door open. When the outer door 16 is subsequently opened, the bumper 34 will drop into position to be struck by the flange 38 when next the outer door 16 is closed.

Thus it will be seen that a closing door acts automatically to latch itself and unlatch the other door in normal operation. Positive locking in either position, or in the mid-position when it is desired to have both doors unlatched, is provided by the lever 27A. It will be seen that the entire mechanism is so arranged to occupy only a small portion of the side of the receptacle 10, so that it may also be readily installed in existing receptacles without cutting down too much on size and without the necessity of damaging other building structure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified version of the mechanism having the same parts except that a longer single piece bumper bar 13% riding on flanges 132 is used and the trip elements are eliminated. This mechanism operates in a substantially similar fashion except that when the inner door 17 is closed, the outer door 16 will be thrust ajar, and vice versa.

Although I have described only two embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

'1. In a receptacle, an inner door and an outer door positioned on opposite sides of said receptacle, door latching and unlatching mechanism comprising a keeper element carried by each of said doors and a pair of latch levers each operable to respectively engage and disengage with one of said keeper elements whereby to lock and unlock said doors and actuating means positioned to be engaged upon either of said doors being moved from an open position to a closed position and operable upon one of said doors being moved from an open position to a closed position to actuate said latching and unlatching mechanism to move one of said latch levers to a positicn engaging with the keeper element carried by the door being closed and to disengage the other of said latch levers from the keeper element carried by the other of said doors and to retain said latched door in a locked position during opening of the other of said doors.

2. The mechanism as defined in claim 1 and including means selectively operable to retain both doors in unlatched condition.

3. In a receptacle, a pair of access doors each having a keeper, a pair of latch levers each operable to engage with and disengage from one of said keepers and being pivotally mounted in said receptacle, a connecting element pivotally mounted intermediate said latch levers and operably connected thereto, said connecting element being operab le on pivotal movement to actuate one lever to its disengaged position and the other lever to its engaged position, an actuating element operably connected with said connecting element and operable by action of closing of a door to impart pivotal movement to said connecting element whereby to effect engagement of one of said levers with the keeper of the door being closed and disengage ment of the other of said levers With the keeper of the other door.

4. The mechanism as defined in claim 3 and in which said actuating element comprises a bar extending from the connecting element toward both doors, each door having bumper means when closing operable to engage and thrust said bar toward the other door and to pivot said connecting element to operate said latch levers, and means operable to urge said connecting element to pivot further to thereby move said bar into position for engagement by the other door when it is subsequently closed.

5. The mechanism as defined in claim 3 and including means selectively operable to retain said connecting element at an intermediate position at which both levers are in their disengaged positions.

6. The mechanism as defined in claim 4 and in which said bar has an abutment element pivotally mounted on each end and disposed normally for engagement by the bumper means of the respective door upon closing same, and means operable on movement of said bar toward either door to move the respective abutment element out of normal engagement position.

7. The mechanism as defined in claim 5 and in which said connecting element has a keeper slot and said retaining means comprises a lever selectively movable into and out of said slot.

8. The mechanism as defined in claim 7 and in which said lever is selectively engageable with said connecting element when same is in position for latching either door, said lever thereby being operable to lock said connecting element against operation by said actuating element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 11,219,360 Storms Mar. 13, 1917 1,368,863 Turner Feb. -15, 1921 1,603,404 Proctor Oct. 19, 1926 1,752,984 Hess Apr. 1, 1930 2,674,510 Gray Apr. 6, 1954 2,830,838 Drager Apr. 15, 1958 

1. IN A RECEPTACLE, AN INNER DOOR AND AN OUTER DOOR POSITIONED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID RECEPTACLE, DOOR LATCHING AND UNLATCHING MECHANISM COMPRISING A KEEPER ELEMENT CARRIED BY EACH OF SAID DOORS AND A PAIR OF LATCH LEVERS EACH OPERABLE TO RESPECTIVELY ENGAGE AND DISENGAGE WITH ONE OF SAID KEEPER ELEMENTS WHEREBY TO LOCK AND UNLOCK SAID DOORS AND ACTUATING MEANS POSITIONED TO BE ENGAGED UPON EITHER OF SAID DOORS BEING MOVED FROM AN OPEN POSITION TO A CLOSED POSITION AND OPERABLE UPON ONE OF SAID DOORS BEING MOVED FROM AN OPEN POSITION TO A CLOSED POSITION TO ACTUATE SAID LATCHING AND UNLATCHING MECHANISM TO MOVE ONE OF SAID LATCH LEVERS TO A POSITION ENGAGING WITH THE KEEPER ELEMENT CARRIED BY THE DOOR BEING CLOSED AND TO DISENGAGE THE OTHER OF SAID LATCH LEVERS FROM THE KEEPER ELEMENT CARRIED BY THE OTHER OF SAID DOORS AND TO RETAIN SAID LATCHED DOOR IN A LOCKED POSITION DURING OPENING OF THE OTHER OF SAID DOORS. 